


Coincidental eavesdropping can be pretty sweet

by Moragh33 (Moraghh33)



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 22:43:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3428261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moraghh33/pseuds/Moragh33
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is basically a 'getting them back together' fic.<br/>Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coincidental eavesdropping can be pretty sweet

Marceline’s mind shuddered and jolted to a halt, having to work very hard to restrain the jerking squeak of shock that tried to escape and would have undoubtedly given away her presence. The Vampire Queen had not anticipated Finn and Jake actually having something interesting to eavesdrop on while she was hiding in the Treehouse waiting to jump out and scare the lumps out of them (she knew on some level that she shouldn’t find their momentary abject terror quite so amusing but she couldn’t help it), but here she was listening to a conversation that was about her when Finn and Jake didn’t even know it was about her.

“Her ex?” Finn questioned in some surprise. “I didn’t even know PB had an ex; she’s not really dated anyone since we’ve known her.”

“Yeah and that’s the whole point,” Jake answered, labouring the point. “She never got over her ex and that’s why she never dates: she’s still in love with her ex.”

“Dude,” Finn breathed out, a little wide eyed. “So she’s still in love with someone she split up with years and years ago?”

“Definitely looked like it,” Jake continued with a little shudder. “Man, it was so awkward, she was like sobbing to Lady and I couldn’t get out of there without either abandoning my sandwich or letting them both know I’d heard the whole thing so I just had to wait it out and eat real quiet.”

“Man, sobbing? Who’s this ex? What did he do to break PB’s heart like that? We should track him down and teach him some manners-”

“I don’t know,” the magic dog interrupted, “they never said a name; it was mostly just wailing and ‘why does my heart still hurt so much, Glob-damnit?’ and more wailing.”

“Wow,” Finn murmured, again looking a little mind-blown. “So I guess rebounding from Flame Princess back to Peebles isn’t really an option then?”

“Nope,” Jake confirmed, shaking his head vigorously.

Marceline sat there, invisible at the edge of the room, and tried to process what she’d heard.

_Bonnie still loves me? But she’s always the one pushing_ me _away. She’s the one that said there wasn’t a future for us._ Marceline could feel anger rising up in her at the almost casual way that Bonibell had said the words, as if it was obvious and shouldn’t be a big deal. As if she wasn’t breaking Marceline’s heart.

_But she sobs about it now? After all these years? She still pushes me away but she sobs to Lady about it? What the plum, Bonnie?_

It had taken Marceline a long time to heal after the split. She’d never given her heart to someone so completely as she had given it to Princess Bonibell Bubblegum, so to have it apparently tossed aside so carelessly had all but broken her. She’d left the area, toying with returning to the Nightosphere to rule it as her father wanted her to, but knew that that wasn’t really who she was, let alone who she wanted to be. She’d travelled the world, meeting new people, learning new wisdoms, hoping time and distance would heal her. She’d been gone for years, exploring the whole world of Ooo, drinking up all the experiences she could find until she decided she must have seen enough and done enough and learned enough and changed enough to survive returning home. She’d always known she would go back; she really ought to keep an eye on Simon for one thing, but it was her home too and she didn’t want to be the person who was chased from her home by the presence of an ex. Even if she was still a heart-breakingly beautiful, perfectly infuriating ex.

She’d managed to keep her distance from Bonnie when she first returned and had congratulated herself on quite how distant and snarky she’d managed to stay when their paths were forced to cross. She’d found great amusement in ‘helping’ Finn in his early attempts at wooing Bonnie, telling herself sternly that it was amusing and that there were no tiny seeds of bitter want hanging around in her gut. She thought she’d been doing quite well until that wretched Doorlord blasted through and they had a spontaneous jam-sesh all together to open a door. Music always unlocked all the things she tried to bury so she should have thought about it and stopped herself before she opened her big mouth and sung her little heart out. _The look on Bonnie’s face..._ The image of the Princess’s inscrutable face was burned into Marceline’s mind and she had realised instantly that she would be doomed to forever be trying to work out what emotions were hiding behind that mask.

And then there was the whole thing with the t-shirt.

Marceline had had to set up whole platoons of emotional control around her heart when she realised that the ‘treasured possession’ that had been stolen from Bonnie was a t-shirt she had given her back when they were together. _It’s not about me; it can’t be about me._ That had been her mantra for the rest of the week and every time since that the memory of quite how cute her Princess had looked in the shirt-

_Not MY Princess!!_

Marceline almost smacked herself; she hadn’t let that kind of slip-up into her thoughts for a long time now.

But none of this made sense with what she’d heard Jake saying.

_Maybe Jake’s making this up to try and put Finn off rebounding? That’d make more sense than for Bonnie to... to still love me even though she said.... Damnit, Marceline,_ the Vampire Queen silently chastised herself, _you were supposed to have gotten over this. If you were really over her, hearing that wouldn’t be throwing you into a tailspin like this. For Glob’s sakes, you’re still in love with her, aren’t you?_ she accused, fury at herself beginning to rise. _After she just threw you aside, you’re still in love with her?! That’s so pathetic! So freaking, lumping pathetic, you-_

“Aaaaahhhhh!!!”

Marceline was broken from her reverie by the sudden and loud sound of Finn and Jake screaming. She looked around to see what had startled them and realised with a slightly mortified groan that she’d gotten so unfocused that she’d not only phased back into the visible spectrum but in her growing rage had half-hulked out, split into her demon form.

“Guys, guys,” she quickly resumed her less dangerous form before being hit with frustration that this whole mess with Bonnibell had distracted her from her original plan for the evening to the extent that she’d forgotten to be amused by Finn and Jake’s terror. “It’s just me.”

“Oh, hey Marceline,” Finn said amiably as he recovered. “That was a good one: I’ve almost begun to recognise your demon forms and not finding them scary so a half-way transformer was a great idea!”

“Haha,” Jake agreed through still-nervous laughter, “yeah; great idea.”

“Oh, yeah,” Marceline agreed vaguely.

“Uh, how long have you been there?” Jake asked, a little indignation coming up as he fully lost his nervousness. “You know it’s not cool to eavesdrop on a bro-convo.”

“Uh,” the vampire squirmed a little uncomfortably; usually she didn’t care, but this time she really had heard something she wished she hadn’t. Hope was beginning to sing its horribly painful little song in her heart and that was the last thing she needed. “Uh, yeah, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to stay; just got a bit distracted.”

“By what?”

“Uh,” _come on brain, think! Think faster!_ “Uh, I just heard you talking about PB’s ex.” _What!? That is not the right response, weenus!_

“Do you know who it is? You and Peebles go way back, right? We wanna teach him a lesson for hurting PB like that!” Finn said, his excited righteous fury rising up.

“Yeah,” Jake agreed, “whoever he is must’ve hurt Princess Bubblegum real bad and I don’t appreciate a guy who hurts ladies.”

_So Jake wasn’t making it up?!_

“Uh, um, yeah; I knew ‘em.” _Get out of there, right now._ “Sorry guys,” she said, turning quickly toward the window and not allowing them time to question, “I’ve gotta go. I’ll, uh, I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Wait!”

“Marcy!”

She ignored their calls and flew out of there.

_Right,_ she thought to herself as she gathered her courage; _I need some answers._

***

Princess Bubblegum was exhausted. She’d thought she was doing fine, but when Lady had sat her down and told her in that implacably loving tone of hers that she wouldn’t let her leave until she told her what was wrong, she realised she wasn’t going to fool her.

“Damn that blasted Sky Witch,” she muttered to herself as she pulled on her nightgown. “Damn Ash and Maja and Marceline’s lumping Lord-of-the-Nightosphere father.” She angrily dashed away the rogue tear that had managed to escape.

It was so frustrating because she had, honestly, been doing ok. Not great, admittedly, but it was all relative. She had a life with purpose and responsibility, people she cared for who cared for her. She didn’t have her soul mate, but people all over the world survived happily enough without those, so why should she be any different?

And then Marceline had come back and everything had gotten a little shaky for a while; she’d kept up her guard in public but had found herself sleeping more and more frequently in that ancient black rock shirt. She’d managed to chemically enhance the scent of the shirt so that even now, years later, it still smelt like Marceline and on the most difficult nights the only way she could sleep was to wrap herself up in it and pretend. It was a good job she had a great imagination and an even better memory.

But now she didn’t even have the shirt; she’d been without it for nearly a month now and felt almost as devastated as she had at the time of the original break up.

_Which is ridiculous,_ she mentally scolded herself; _that was so long ago now. And it was just a lumping shirt; it was never actually her, for Glob’s sakes._

But Lady had seen enough of her discomposure to see that something was about to break and, predictably, the faithful Rainicorn swooped in and carried her away from the castle for a bit so she could break down away from the watchful eyes of her subjects.

_But you’ve had your breakdown,_ she told herself, _you’ve got to be Princess Bubblegum again now._

She lay on her bed, staring hard at the wall as she tried to drill this instruction into her head, when she heard a rattling noise at her window. And then an anciently familiar ‘rat-a-tat-tat’ was knocked against the glass.

_Oh Glob, help me._

“Marceline?” she asked almost disbelievingly as the Vampire Queen glided gracefully through the window, rainwater dripping from her and making her clothes stick to her in ways that were really not helpful to PB’s composure. “Marceline, what on earth are you doing here? In the rain? At night?”

“It’s hardly bedtime for me, Bonnie,” Marceline replied in that low drawl that the Princess’s body couldn’t help responding to. “You should remember at least that.”

PB drew a quick deep breath; her emotional walls were low this evening but she couldn’t allow Marceline to see that. It could be not only disastrous but deadly.

“Answer the question, Marceline,” she said sternly, just about managing not to stamp her foot. “Why are you here? I’m very tired and I don’t have time for social calls, so unless there was something specific-”

“Oh there’s something specific alright,” Marceline assured her, a harsh smile glittering coldly across her face and making Bonibell’s chest ache in remembrance of the smiles she used to get from the beautiful vampire. “Don’t worry; I wouldn’t dare to bother the Princess without good reason.”

“Well?” PB demanded, her tiredness and need to be rid of this greatest temptation welling up and making her snap.

“I need some answers, Peebs,” Marceline practically hissed; Bonibell hated it when people called her that and Marceline knew it.

“Answers to what?”

“Answers about some stuff I heard today about you that makes absolutely no sense to me and I think you’ll agree I deserve to have some answers where you and me are concerned.”

“What?!” PB’s heart almost stopped: what and how much had she heard!? And how had she heard? She knew Lady wouldn’t betray her trust like that. “What have you heard-”

“I accidentally overheard, not through anyone’s intentional betrayal of your trust so don’t get your knickers in a twist about that-”

“Marceline-!”

“-but I heard that you’re still in love with your ex and that that is the reason you don’t date anymore.” Bonibell couldn’t breathe. “I heard that you’re so in love with your ex that you were, quote, sobbing over how much your heart still hurts.” _Dear Glob, if you’re out there, please don’t let me cry._ Marceline’s green eyes were burning, their many rich shades almost painful to look at for all the beauty they held, but the hurt and the bewildered anger was just as strong in them as they had been all those years ago.

“Marceline-” she tried to speak, to stop the onslaught and shield them both from the pain of raking all this up again, but her voice cracked and the vampire’s rage swelled.

“For Glob’s sakes, Bonnie,” the Vampire Queen’s voice rose. “I know I’m your most recent ex, so either you still have pretty strong feelings for me or...” Marceline looked away, her voice dropping and beginning to crack, “...or there was someone before me that you were still in love with when we were together and all the love I thought you were showing me was even more fake than I realised.”

“It wasn’t fake! I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone!” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself, tumbling out in a desperate need to defend the most beautiful year in all the hundreds that had passed in her life, unable to bear the idea that Marceline thought she’d never truly loved her.

Green eyes glared at her in fierce disbelief and the Princess of the Candy Kingdom almost wilted.

“How can you say that? How can you do this to me? Don’t you realise how hard I’ve been trying to forget you and forget what we had and, and move on with my life? I spent years and lumping years wondering the world trying to get you out of my head because you said you didn’t love me, that we didn’t have a future, and you were pretty convincing. And now-?”

“We don’t have a future, Marceline,” Bonibell whispered, forcing herself to say it, although managing far less caustic aplomb than she had when she’d forced herself to say it all those years before. Marceline snorted in bitter disbelief.

“Because you don’t love me.”

Every atom of Bonnie’s body raged against this untruth but she kept her silence; Marceline’s life depended on it.

“Say it.”

The Vampire Queen’s voice was small but close and PB looked up to see that her ex was no longer floating but standing on the floor right in front of her, those gorgeous green eyes seeking her out with almost more vulnerable desperation than she could cope with.

“You have to say it or I won’t believe you, Bonnie; you don’t ‘sob’, and you definitely don’t sob over an ex that you don’t have feelings for. If you truly want me to believe you that you don’t love me, then you’re going to have to be a whole lumping lot more convincing than you’re being right now.”

Bonibell closed her eyes, unable to meet that gaze any more, but she could feel the vampire coming closer, could feel the cooling of the air as she entered her personal space, could feel the softness of her skin as Marceline’s fingers tentatively brushed against her own. She had never been so torn between desperate fear and desperate desire, so immobilised by the proximity of all that she wanted and of the risk of its destruction.

Cool fingers glided up her arms, pulling her closer and, for a few moments, Princess Bubblegum lost all of her self-control, letting herself give in to her heart’s desire, allowing herself to be pulled closer to the Vampire Queen’s beautiful, lean body. She felt Marceline’s lips ghosting soft kisses up the side of her neck and her own hands rose of their own volition to lose themselves in the thick swathes of rich black hair that they’d been craving for so long, holding her ex-lover close as she continued her trail of tiny kisses along Bonibell’s jaw line.

She’d always found it amazing that a body that absorbed as much heat as Marceline’s did could make her feel so incredibly overheated, but right in that moment PB couldn’t think about anything but the overwhelming, aching thirst for Marceline’s kiss that had been building in her for almost a decade; she turned her head, just the tiniest amount, but it was enough and Marceline did the rest, bringing her around till their lips could meet. It was almost painful, quite how good it felt to be kissing Marceline again. The smooth, cool softness of her lips and the gentle strength of her arms around her, the way her hands held her close and the tiny, low, mewling noises of approval as the kiss inevitably deepened-

_I am Lord of the Nightosphere! Do you really think I don’t have the power to trap my own daughter here forever if I want to?_

The memory slammed into Bonibell like a high-speed train and she pushed Marceline away, stumbling backwards as her heart began to race for terror instead of lust.

“No-”

“Bonnie-?” Marceline’s voice was so small, so confused and hurt.

“Your father-” Princess Bubblegum slapped a hand over her own mouth, horrified at her slip-up. _Get a grip!_ she scolded herself furiously; _Marceline can’t know!_

“My father what?!” Marceline’s confusion only grew and Bonibell cursed herself viciously.

“Nothing, Marceline,” she said sharply and turned away, unable to look at the beautiful girl she had just broken a little bit more. “You should go.”

“What!?” Marceline’s understandable fury only grew. “What the lumps, Bonnie?! Are you serious right now?! Look at me!” Bonibell couldn’t bring herself to do it, only screwing her eyes tightly shut as she heard the woosh of air as Marceline flew around to float in front of her again. She could practically feel the burning green gaze on her.

“Just go, Marceline; please,” she almost whimpered, feeling herself begin to crack under the pressure.

“NO! Tell me what is going on! What has my father got to do with this?! Tell me!!”

“I can’t, Marceline; don’t you think I would have by now if I could?! For Glob’s sakes, I’ve already said too much; just let it go, please!”

“Bonibell, I can’t let it go,” Marceline was standing in front of her again when PB looked up, the vampire’s beautiful eyes full of intense determination. “I love you; I still love you after all this time, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop, so whatever it takes I’m going to get to the bottom of this. If you won’t tell me, I’ll make my father tell me.”

“Marceline-!”

The Princess barely had time to process the overwhelmingly painful joy of hearing Marceline say she still loved her and that she always would before she processed the part where her ex-lover was about to go and confront the Lord of the Nightosphere. And then Marceline was gone in a ball of fire and smoke.

“MARCELINE!!”

***

“Father!” Marceline roared as the fiery halls of the Nightosphere appeared before her. The Vampire Queen could feel the boiling tendrils of rage whipping through her body and tried to calm herself enough to think rationally and not let the beast take over: it wasn’t that good at detective work.

_Bonnie still loves me; I could feel it. She would never have let me kiss her like that if she didn’t._ Marceline’s mind was in overdrive, caught between reliving those glorious few moments and trying to find meaning in the Princess’s words and actions. _She was terrified; there aren’t many things that will terrify Bonnie._

“Dad!” _If he did something to her, I’ll kill him; Nightosphere be damned._

“Marceline!” her father appeared, smiling genially with arms wide. “How wonderful to see you. Have you finally decided you do want to be involved in running things down here? Excellent! I knew if I gave you enough time-”

“No, dad,” Marceline cut him off, scowl firmly in place. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Pity,” he replied, looking as if she’d merely turned down an invitation to dinner. “Well what can I do for you, dear?”

“What did you do to Bonnie?”

“Who’s Bonnie?”

“Princess Bubblegum!”

“I haven’t done anything to _her_ , darling, I promise,” he smiled that ‘innocent’ smile again and Marceline had to restrain herself.

“You did something, I know it,” she hissed, working hard to not hulk out. “She broke up with me almost a decade ago and I found out by chance this evening that she’s still in love with me and has been just as hurt by the whole thing as I have.” He said nothing and continued to pretend innocence. “I know it has something to do with you, father,” she growled, “so if you ever want to see me again, you’re going to explain what happened right now!”

“Alright, alright,” he sighed, holding up his hands in surrender. “Keep your fangs on. I’d actually completely forgotten about the whole thing,” he chuckled and Marceline almost let the beast come out. “I just thought that you might be more likely to come back and rule the Nightosphere if she left you, so I told her that if she didn’t, I had the power to seal you in the Lowest Levels forever and that you’d be better off dead. She didn’t believe me at first but you know what she’s like: when I pointed out that she didn’t know for sure and that she’d be risking your safety for her own selfish wants, she didn’t dare. She wouldn’t risk your eternal happiness for the sake of your relationship; rather sweet I suppose. Of course, I knew if she told you she’d soon find out that this wasn’t true so I said I’d seal you if she told you too, so she’d just have to find another way to break it up.”

“You- you-” Marceline felt the disbelief and rage swelling through her gut, flaming up through her chest and pushing all words from her brain.

“It’s a shame it didn’t work really, but I suppose there’s still time if you want to change your mind. There’s always a place for you down here, honey-”

Marceline let go of the reins and the beast came out. She flew forwards crashing into her father with a roar as he let his own beast out and they tangled together in a mass of tearing, clawing, frothing rage. They fought and fought, Marceline’s rage only growing hotter with each memory of the heartache that had been the result of her father’s manipulative deviousness and obliviousness to how she felt and what she wanted, obliviousness to who she really was.

“Good sparring session, sweetheart,” her father said merrily as they eventually flung each other down in exhaustion and the beasts retired. “We should do that more often-”

“That was _not_ sparring, dad,” Marceline hissed, pushing herself up on her elbows and refusing to think about the trickle of blood she could feel running down the side of her head. “Don’t you ever go near her again. Ever.”

“Marceline-”

“I mean it.”

“Oh I don’t have any plans to at the moment,” he replied cheerfully. “That plan clearly didn’t work and I had completely forgotten the whole thing so feel free to go and get-”

“I don’t care what plans you do or don’t have now; Bonnie will never be part of one of your plans again, or you will never see me again.”

“Now look here, young lady-”

Marceline closed her eyes and focused on Bonnie’s room. When she opened them again she was on the floor in the corner of the Princess’s chambers, peering through slightly blurry vision until the image cleared and she saw Bonibell flicking frantically through an ancient looking tome.

“Bonnie?” she called out softly, not wanting to startle her.

“Marceline!” The princess whipped around, eyes wide and frightened. She ran towards the injured vampire, her face a mask of fearful concern. “Marceline, what happened? Are you ok? Oh my Glob, Marcy-”

“Bonnie, I’m ok,” Marceline grinned, sitting up and reaching toward her princess as the other girl crouched down beside her. “I’ll be fine, I’m just a bit battered and tired. Do you have any tomatoes or red apples or anything?”

“Of course,” PB replied leaping to her feet, “let me run and fetch you something-”

“Can you send Peppermint Butler or someone? We need to talk.” Marceline peered into her love’s beautiful eyes and saw the fearful hesitation still there. “It’s going to be ok, Bonnie.” The tightness in the vampire’s chest eased as she saw a hopeful smile begin to spread on Bonibell’s sweet pink face.

“Sure,” she replied softly, “just give me a minute.” She trotted to the door and Marceline lay back down as the Princess summoned her Butler. “Hey,” Bonnie murmured as she returned and Marceline opened her eyes to see her crouching over her. “That doesn’t look too comfy; let’s get you to bed.”

“Really, Bonnie?” Marceline couldn’t help a snigger as Bonibell’s already pink cheeks darkened a little. “It’s been a while-”

“You know very well what I mean, Marceline Abedeer,” the princess scolded, but Marceline could see her grinning. “Come on.” She wrapped an arm under Marceline’s shoulder and helped the Vampire Queen to her feet; Marceline was fairly sure she would have managed by herself but she wasn’t going to complain about having Bonnie’s arm around her.

The sheets on the bed were still rumpled from where Bonnie had been trying to sleep earlier in the evening and Marceline tried not to think too hard about the fact that she was about to be in Bonnie’s bed again after all this time. The break up may well have been entirely her father’s fault, but it wouldn’t do them any good to rush into anything.

“I’m just going to get the first aid kit from my bathroom,” the princess said, squeezing Marceline’s hand for a moment before dashing off to her en suite. The vampire leaned back against the cushions piled behind her and allowed her mind to race for a moment.

_If this is all really happening and isn’t some kind of fantastic dream, I think I’m about to get Bonnie back._ Talk about a mind-blowing thought.

“Hey,” Bonnie’s voice was so soft as she returned, smiling a gentle smile as she sat on the bed beside Marceline and cracked open the first aid box. It had been so long since she’d heard that soft voice. Princess Bubblegum was always so stern and almost militaristically forceful; it was only Bonnie who spoke softly to Marceline.

“Hey,” Marceline smiled back at her, reaching out for a moment to hold Bonnie’s hand again; it was amazing how connected to someone you could feel just by holding their hand.

“Marcy, what happened?” Bonnie’s eyes turned serious again and she began to dab at Marceline’s face where the blood had run down.

“Hah,” Marceline snorted a little bitterly. “Well I guess I just got more proof that my father is not a role model for the kind of person that I want to be, so his little plan kind of backfired.” She sighed, doing her best not to feel frustrated with Bonibell or to let any frustration show; _she didn’t know for sure that he was lying and I can’t be annoyed with her for valuing my life and happiness so highly._ “He was lying, Bonnie,” she said, meeting the princess’s eyes and holding her gaze for a moment. “He may be the Lord of the Nightosphere, but I’m the Vampire Queen; he doesn’t have the power to seal me down there, even if he really wanted to, which I don’t think he would.”

“He really was lying?” Bonnie’s eyes filled with guilt and Marceline raised a hand to wipe a tear that had escaped down pink cheeks, relishing the way her love sighed at the touch, closing her eyes for a moment and leaning into it. “I’m so sorry, Marcy,” she whispered, watery eyes opening again. “It was so stupid of me but I just wasn’t certain and I couldn’t risk it. I couldn’t risk you.”

“I know, baby,” Marceline smiled, managing to stop her own voice from cracking. “I know; it’s ok. It’s behind us now, we just need to look forward.” She grinned wickedly as a thought occurred to her. “But this does mean that I will forever have the perfect comeback for when we fight and you accuse me of being a dumbass-”

“Marcy!” Bonnie protested, but her laughter rang out and it was like music to Marceline’s ears and she felt her own laughter bubbling up, an expression of the sheer joy of the moment. She pushed herself forward, pulling Bonnie closer with the hand at her cheek, her other hand sliding forward to grasp her slim waist. Marceline heard the princess’s breath hitch and her own stomach clenched in response as she rested her forehead against her love’s, pushing her hand forwards to sink into the thick pink waves tumbling down around Bonibell’s shoulders.

They held each other’s gaze, trembling on the edge of the long awaited moment; breathing it in, breathing each other in.

_She tastes so good_.

It was kind of obvious, really; of course Princess Bubblegum would taste good, but it wasn’t just the sweetness. The indefinably delicious taste of Bonnie’s mouth was beyond perfection and certainly beyond words. It was more than addictive; it was compulsive, filling Marceline up with an ever-burning need for more.

The kiss deepened, Bonibell dropping the first aid supplies she’d still been holding to bury her hands in Marceline’s hair, her grip hard and desperate and making the vampire’s every nerve sing. She pulled her closer till the Princess of the Candy Kingdom was more or less in her lap when suddenly there was a knock at the door.

“Princess?” Peppermint Butler’s voice came muffled through the door and Bonnie pulled back from the kiss, leaning her head against Marceline’s forehead as they both caught their breath. Marceline felt every atom of her body burning incandescent with joy as Bonnie smiled her incredible smile: wide and relaxed and blissful with just a hint of excited bashfulness. Nothing was more perfect. The princess pressed one more small, soft kiss to Marceline’s lips before she slid from the bed and went to the door.

Marceline’s mind was on fire with happiness and couldn’t help watching in awe as Bonnie managed to almost knock her out with her astounding beauty just by walking to the door with that little sway of her hips in her nightgown.

_I thought she said she wore my shirt to sleep in._

The treacherous thought sliced a moment of doubt into the vampire’s battered heart and Bonnie was sharp enough to catch it as she returned, no matter how forcefully Marceline told herself to not be stupid and that it would be plain unsanitary for Bonnie to have worn the same shirt to sleep in every night for years without break.

“Marcy, what’s wrong?” she asked as she sat on the side of the bed again and placed a bowl of red apples on the bedside table next to Marceline.

“Nothing’s wrong-”

“Don’t, Marcy,” the princess stopped her gently but firmly. “Look, after so many years of apparently pointless heartache, I don’t want to let anything, no matter how small, start to damage us now.” She dropped her eyes for a moment. “Look, I know you must have some... some emotional scarring, some distrust of me. I totally understand. I mean, from your point of view, it must have seemed like I just randomly abandoned you without any warning because we _were_ so happy before and then I suddenly broke it off for apparently no reason but-”

“Bonnie-” Marceline tried to interrupt her as the princess’s voice began to crack a little.

“No, let me finish, please,” beautiful eyes implored her and Marceline could only nod. “I know you understand rationally why I did what I did, but the heart and emotions don’t often work very rationally, so I know that at least on some level you must be really angry with me and find it hard to trust me and to trust in this completely, so I just wanted to say that I understand that and that I will do whatever it takes to earn back that trust.”

Marceline felt a tear slide down her own cheek and she released a tiny bit of the anger that had been growing in her heart for the last decade. She pulled Bonnie close again, just holding her tightly, wanting the closeness again.

“But, Marcy, for me to gain that trust again I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s really dumb,” the vampire muttered, a little embarrassed as she pulled back and met Bonnie’s eye with a grin, glad to see her grinning back.

“Well, you’ve already established the fact that I’ll never successfully be able to call you a dumbass ever again, so I shouldn’t worry about it.”

“No, but like, really dumb.”

“Marcy.” Marceline had to smile at that familiar fond warning tone.

“Ok, ok,” she conceded, threading her fingers into Bonnie’s for reassurance. “Just promise not to laugh.” Bonnie gave her a flat look and nodded. “I just... You said you wore my shirt to sleep in but... It’s stupid; it’s in the laundry, right? You promised not to laugh, ok, so don’t even though it’s stupid...” She trailed off and felt her heart go a little colder as Bonnie’s eyes went nervous and downcast. “Bonnie?”

“Uh,” the princess hesitated in a very unprincessly fashion. “It _was_ true; I used to sleep in it a lot. It helped me...to pretend that you were still here but... I don’t have it anymore.”

“What? Why?” _She had it when the Doorlord came; did she decide to give up on me since then?_

“I, uh, I had to trade it to get Hambo from Maja.”

Marceline felt her jaw drop and her heart swell as the truth boomed.

“I, uh,” Bonnie carried on when it became apparent that Marceline couldn’t speak. “I’d been really missing you that day and I decided to just wear it under my clothes so I had it on me when we went to get Hambo. Maja wanted him for his sentimental value and she said she would trade him for something of equal or greater sentimental value...so I gave her the shirt.”

The vampire’s brain was racing at a million miles an hour, trying to cope with all the implications of this information. _Just my shirt meant at least as much to Bonnie as Hambo means to me. And she was willing to trade it so I could get Hambo back._

“Marcy?”

Marceline reached for her, pulling her love closer as the need to express her gratitude and her love and her awe and amazement and wonder rose up and she pulled the princess into a kiss, their lips locking, even as a little squeak of surprise escaped Bonnie’s throat.

***

It had been a wonderful night.

Marceline’s gratitude for Hambo was already high but finding out about the trade seemed to have increased it a thousand fold. Bonibell had almost let her long-repressed passion run away with her as her beautiful Vampire Queen had drawn her down into her arms, the deep kisses and soft caresses almost making her lose her mind completely but she had just about managed to rein them back in, reluctant as she was to do so. Even now she regretted it quite a lot, but she knew in the long run they’d do better if they took things at the right pace and Marceline had equally reluctantly agreed with her.

She hadn’t been able to bear the thought of being apart yet though. She’d cleaned her girlfriend’s fast-healing wounds, still not quite believing Marceline when she said that she was fine, but mostly just relieved that she was there and that she was alive (well, undead). They chatted for hours, Bonibell almost killing the vampire when she found out that she had only received those wounds because she’d lost her temper and attacked her father.

“Don’t you ever do that again! Do you know how scared I was when I saw you all crumpled and bleeding on my floor?!”

“It was fine,” Marceline brushed it off with that infuriatingly gorgeous little smirk of hers. “I had it under control.”

They had a lot to talk about and Bonibell had a lot of apologies to make, even though Marceline insisted that she didn’t. The fact remained that if she had been less naive about the ‘Lord of the Nightosphere’, then the last decade would have been a lot less tortuous for both of them. The princess felt repeated waves of anger and frustration with herself for all the time and trust and happiness her uncharacteristic naivety had cost them both but every time Marceline was there to reassure her and forgive her and make it all better.

“You should probably get some sleep at some point, babe,” Marceline had said with a soft smile as Bonibell yawned for the tenth time. “It’s nearly morning and I should probably get back to my cave before the sun comes up.”

“Stay,” the princess had quietly pled, certain that if she slept and woke alone again she would be convinced it was all a dream.

“Bonnie-”

“I still have the blackout curtains,” she mumbled, a little embarrassed. “I couldn’t bring myself to take them down, even when we redecorated.” Marceline’s smile became a smirk and Bonibell felt those familiar butterflies in her stomach. “Please stay; just to sleep.” She met those deep green eyes and felt her own face become serious. “I haven’t slept very well in, well, almost a decade and now I don’t even have a shirt of yours to help me sleep, but if you stayed I know I-”

“I’ll stay,” the vampire had agreed, her smile wide and beautiful, and Bonibell’s heart soared.

And she had, in fact, slept so well and so deeply that she woke feeling happier and better rested than she had in years.

It was one of the few times that Marceline’s body felt warm: when they had been lying in bed together under blankets and Bonibell’s own body produced enough heat to warm them both. The vampire’s strong right arm was wrapped around her waist as she spooned Bonibell and the princess smiled as she realised that Marceline had probably watched her sleep for a while before she’d closed her own eyes; the dark-haired girl always used to say she loved watching her sleep.

Bonibell shuffled around, careful not to dislodge Marceline’s arm or to wake her, and just gazed at her sleeping girlfriend’s face. She’d always found the contrast of her pale skin and dark hair incredible but here, in the shadows of her heavily curtained room, Marceline’s skin was practically glowing while her luscious black hair just drank up any small bits of light. _It’s almost like magic_ , Bonibell found her hazy mind musing before she rolled her eyes at her own lovelorn silliness because, of course, magic is just science.

But the effect was the same. Her breath caught in her throat as she brushed her knuckles gently across Marceline’s high sculpted cheekbones, revelling in the soft smoothness, and pushed a stray black strand of hair back behind her ear.

_She’s so beautiful. And she loves me. And her father doesn’t have the power to take her from me._

Bonibell felt her own rage at the Lord of the Nightosphere swelling for all the time he had stolen from them, but quickly calmed herself with the fact that she had Marceline back now and that spending any more time on anger at Hunson Abedeer would only waste more of that precious time. And it was precious.

Marceline was immortal, that she knew, but Bonibell herself was not. She still had many, many, many years ahead of her but she was a finite being, so she could not afford to waste even one minute of the time that should be spent loving Marceline on hating her father.

It did still feel incredibly surreal though, having her soul mate back, having her in her bed even if she was fully clothed. Bonibell almost laughed aloud at the wonderful madness of it all but managed to keep it in for the sake of her girlfriend’s sleep.

_My girlfriend. She’s mine again._ Her heart swelled with giddy delight, spreading a riotous smile across her face and making her work to contain her own disbelieving joy-filled tears as she allowed her fingers to drift across Marceline’s skin again. _And I won’t muck it up this time, I won’t._ Her chest tightened at the very thought and her whole body pushed infinitesimally closer to the vampire’s, needing that comfort and closeness. _I won’t lose her again._

She spent the next few minutes calming herself down, reassuring herself that Marceline was really there and that she didn’t need to be afraid of being without her anymore. They had time now, not infinite, but still a lot. And right now she had as much time as she wanted to just lie there in her girlfriend’s arms and watch her sleep. She’d just remembered in time before going to bed the night before to dig out the ‘Do not disturb’ sign to hang on her door to ensure that Peppermint and the other castle staff would leave them be for at least a day. She wanted, no; needed Marceline to herself for a little while. They had been apart for so long, she was fairly certain it would be pretty difficult to let the vampire out of her sight again for a little while. _Be sensible though, Bonnie; you’re taking this slowly so she probably shouldn’t sleep over tonight as well or you’ll be really testing your self control. You’ll manage; you can always call her. And,_ she smiled, reassuring herself with the shiveringly exciting thought, _it hopefully won’t be too long before she moves back in and then the ‘goodbyes’ won’t have to happen anymore._

She lay there, watching Marceline’s peaceful face and reminiscing. Her thoughts drifted back across the years: the first time they’d officially met, their first kiss, the first night Marceline had stayed over... Thoughts like these could only lead to deep peace and happiness and imagining the great things that their future now held. She dozed, her sleep-deprivation from the last month and more catching up with her, mingling with her warm contentedness to ensure easy sleep as she lay in her lover’s arms. Even in sleep Marceline was pretty possessive, so the arm around Bonibell’s waist tightened periodically, making sure she was never far from the soft, strong body beside her; she never felt safer.

“Hey.”

Bonibell’s eyes blinked blearily open and she felt her smile widen as pale skin and dark green eyes came into focus above her.

“Hey.”

“I thought I was the nocturnal one?” The little smirk on Marceline’s face woke the massive flock of butterflies in Bonibell’s stomach.

“I always sleep best in your arms and I haven’t had a chance to do that for quite a while; I had some catching up to do.”

Marceline grinned, her eyes lighting and her smile becoming bashful in the most adorable way. Bonibell always found it amazing how adorable the Vampire Queen and heir to the Nightosphere could be.

“Well hopefully you won’t be missing out for too much longer.” Marceline’s voice was soft but her eyes showed her certainty and the princess felt her heart swell.

“No,” she smiled reaching a hand to stroke across the vampire’s porcelain skin again. “I don’t think I will.” She pulled Marceline down toward her and couldn’t help the sigh of delight that escaped as she felt the cool softness of those lips against hers again.

_This is bliss. This is how it should always be-_

“Princess!”

“Yo PB!”

Finn and Jake’s voices burst perfection’s bubble as they barged through the door and Bonibell found herself reeling as Marceline whipped around to glare at the intruders.

“Do you not understand the meaning of the words ‘Do not disturb’?!” she hissed and Bonibell tried not to find it too much of a turn on as the vampire’s fury lengthened her sharp white fangs and made her eyes glow red. As she recovered, the princess had to stifle a giggle as she realised the ‘Do not disturb’ sign had only ever indicated a scientific work of some kind while she’d known Finn and Jake and there hadn’t ever been very dire consequences for ignoring it. That would change now that she had her Marcy back.

 


End file.
